non-knowledge

It is the mind alone that is responsible for the illusion that shrouds Reality.  It follows then, if we do away with the mind, we would exist solely in It.  This happens naturally in deep sleep.  The problem is deep sleep is a complete covering of our mind including a subtle awareness that is the nature of this Reality.  So it is important that when we talk about the true state we don’t stop with the idea of negation.  It is something; it is awareness.  It’s just not something we know with our mind.  Yet, it’s not something that requires years of practice, because it’s just simply a knowledge that is everywhere.  It is pure Consciousness unlike our ordinary consciousness, because there isn’t anything to be conscious of.  All that is required to become this Reality is a firm belief in the non-existence of things and an opening up to this absolute Self that is everywhere

baby Miko

On Sunday last week I witnessed the birth of my first child.  She is, of course, the most beautiful baby ever born.  So the time I may have spent writing, I have spent rocking or swaying or bouncing or some odd combination of all three.

 What amazes me is actually how natural it is to have a kid.  For so long I have imagined child rearing as this super possessive, self centered, almost animalistic emotion reserved for a lower less intelligent person.  This could not be further from the truth.

 I think I understand now why some Vedantists believe devotion as an important rung on the ladder of moksha.  For, to truly put some ones life ahead of your own thins the veil of material and emotional attachment.  This requires no effort at all for those who have children.

 Now begins the real application of knowledge.  It wouldn’t be true knowledge anyway if it couldn’t be lived at every turn of event.  The belief that this manifest world is an illusion is now an intuition.  I can no longer spend the time contemplating the universe, reading philosophy, or arguing the origin of the soul.  Now meditation on the absolute is an all-encompassing action never to be interrupted.  It is an attitude of acceptance and an outlook of release.

Brahman

It is easy to know Brahman in meditation.  It is that surrounding presence that is consistent through all three states, beyond words or cognition.  It is that which is beyond even consciousness.  What is challenging is knowing and being united with that (which is always present) always; in grief, in anger, or in love.  Methods of non-attachment help free up the mind and body in order to let the knowledge of Brahman become illuminated, but they are not a means in themselves to know or to experience It.  It is impossible to control the mind and body and therefore impossible to ever not be desirous, or angry, or frustrated, or depressed.  What is possible though is through the conviction that everything is unreal, we become aware of Brahman in times of natural human behavior.  We therefore transcend common human emotion and become united with the infinite, just as we do every night in deep sleep.

There is another difficulty regarding Brahman.  The Vedas declare Brahman to be the Self (Atman).  It is easy to know Brahman that surrounds us in peaceful environments, but to think of It as this very self doesn’t seem reasonable.  For, this self who eats, drinks, desires, etc. is an illusion, just as this table is an illusion.  All of the table’s qualities such as hardness, color, or smell are superimposed on Reality.  All of my qualities like weight, will, vitality, or the color of my hair are what make up my identification of myself, and are illusions themselves.  So if the qualities of myself that make up the idea of self are just as much illusory qualities being superimposed on Brahman (Reality), as the qualities of this table being superimposed on the same Brahman, then I am no more myself then I am this table.  What we commonly think of as self is not at all the Atman of the Upanishads.  Yet once we discover all of this manifest world is an illusion being superimposed by nescience upon an infinite Reality, we discover our true nature is that Reality.